FREE VEGETARIAN COOKING CLASS IN WAYNESBORO, VA

March 2, 2016 By Mark Hackley

Nothing to do with signs, guys, but if people aren’t healthy in Waynesboro and Augusta County, they won’t be able to read signs, so in that respect it may be of interest!

The Waynesboro Seventh-day Adventist Church will present a free, informal two-hour vegetarian cooking class Sunday, March 6, 2016 from 3 to 5 PM at 1700 Lyndhurst Rd., Waynesboro, VA.

Presenter, Alina Ehrlich, will explain the nutritional value and health benefits of vegetarian cooking. Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions and taste samples made prior to the event. Recipes will be given to all attendees.

Please call 540-949-7291 or 703-915-9115 to RSVP.

Cost of Wall Mounted Letters?

February 1, 2016 By Mark Hackley

Cost of Wall Mounted Letters?

What’s the cost of wall mounted letters? Three-dimensional wall letters range in price depending on several things. Your sign company’s project manager can work with you to determine these factors:

Size
Material
Thickness
Interior or Exterior Usage
Height Above the Ground
Logos Involved?
Mounting Method

Once all 7 questions are answered, a sign estimate can be prepared. As far as materials are concerned, there are many options. If the signage is on an interior wall, the material of choice may be some type of plastic. Outdoors, plastic is also a good choice, but you may want to make a different statement by using metal letters. Plastics are limited to paint color finishes, but metal letters can make more of an architectural statement. Some examples include: satin aluminum, gold leaf, stainless steel, brushed aluminum, copper, and bronze. Wall signage can also be hand painted directly onto the wall.

The examples here show a range of wall signs in a city’s downtown landscape. Make sure you select a licensed sign contractor to reduce risks of ending up with non-effective, unsafe, or unattractive signage on your building. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good impression!

The thickness of lettering can add charm but can make a difference in readability and you must consider the effect of shadows on your wall letters. Any logo can be reproduced in dimensional material and mounted on a wall. Augusta Sign Company has more than 30 years experience in designing, manufacturing and installing wall graphics, and is available for consultation anytime!

Mark Hackley is the Owner of Augusta Sign Company of Waynesboro, VA

mark@augustasigncompany.com 540-943-9818

Truck Lettering Project for a Quality Waynesboro, VA Builder

February 1, 2016 By Mark Hackley

Truck Lettering Project for a Quality Waynesboro, VA Builder

I completed my first vehicle graphics project in my new shop today. It was a truck lettering project for a quality Waynesboro, VA builder, Westhills Company. Owner, Carl Kerby, chose Augusta Sign Company to brand his new Chevy Silverado and I was I able to letter the doors and tailgate of the pick up truck in an hour.

The project began several weeks ago when I submitted full color, scaled design concepts to Carl for feedback. After several rounds of tweaking things we came up with a final design: one that incorporated the Westhills logo and included the company phone number and website. The doors had trim pieces that minimized the area for signage and we had to work around that. Previous sign companies in Waynesboro used stock vinyl for the graphics, and the colors were not necessarily exact matches to Westhill’s logo colors, specified by their designer. Augusta Sign Company chose to digitally print and then cut the graphics from 3M high-performance vinyl for two reasons:

3M material offers a 10-year expected performance life;
Exact Pantone Color match possible upholding logo color specifications.

Pick Up Truck Signs (2 doors and tailgate) typically range in cost from $175- $775, depending on materials, complexity of designs, and size of fleet. Simple designs, minimal type, and standard vinyl colors would cause a project to fall in the lower ranges, and more complex designs, gold leaf, shading, outlines, clear-coating, etc., would cause the project to fall in the higher price zones. Usually Augusta Sign Company’s design fees are included in the overall price.

I’ll be looking for the Westhills truck out on the street. Fresh, bright, colorful vehicle graphics are an effective and economical way to promote your brand in the community you serve…every day!

Mark Hackley is the President of Augusta Sign Company of Waynesboro, VA 22980

Contact: mark@augustasigncompany.com 540-943-9818

Here’s a link you may find interesting. It’s a 3M site that shows many examples of vehicle wraps and other vehicle graphics projects:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/BrandingSolutions/Home/CaseStudies/Application/VehicleGraphics/

How Much do Window Signs Cost?

January 29, 2016 By Mark Hackley

How Much do Window Signs Cost?

How much do window signs cost? Lettering and emblems on glass windows was being done at business store fronts and office doors long before I came along in the 1960’s. As I watch old movies from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, it’s always interesting to see how signage has evolved, sometimes not for the better once vinyl came along; sometimes much better with computer-aided design technology.

Before the computer age, everything was either hand lettered or silkscreened. Just before computer software for vinyl cutting came along, there was a short period where die-cut vinyl lettering was popular, but other than that windows and door glass was hand painted. When I say painted, that could also include gold leaf, and other types of gilded lettering. Back in the old days, lots of time went into the design and execution of hand-painted graphics.

Today, many of the old time looks can be replicated in modern computer cut vinyls, but they really look authentic and last the best when hand-pained topcoats and undercoats are implemented. I recently lettered an entrance door for an attorney in Staunton and we chose 23K gold leaf that’s processed like vinyl; meaning it can be computer cut. I designed the lettering on the computer, cut the letters in the real gold leaf, then made a pattern for the black backer lettering outline and drop shadows, and hand-painted those first. Then I applied the leaf and varnished with a clear coat. The finished product looked great!

But how much do window signs cost? It depends on the level of design, the size of the windows, the graphics materials used, the height above the ground, inside or outside of glass, and the distance from the shop. To give you a ballpark estimate for window lettering, the cost of the “Urban Studio” example done anywhere in the Augusta County, Virginia area, would be in the $375-$500 range. The “Chandler’s Bar” example, plain white vinyl on the outside of glass with no clear coating would be in the $100 range plus trip charge to get to and from the job site. Hand-done window lettering is becoming a lost art, but Augusta Sign Company of Waynesboro, Virginia, can still handle that type of sign service at a reasonable cost. Ask your sign partner if they know how to hand-letter signs if you are looking for a professionally-done job that will look great and last a long time!

Mark Hackley is President of Augusta Sign Company, Waynesboro, VA, and was the former founder of Tree Street Signs and most recently an Account Executive with Holiday Signs of Richmond.

Contact: mark@augustasigncompany.com

We Build Church Signs in Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County, VA!

January 27, 2016 By Mark Hackley

We Build Church Signs in Waynesboro, Staunton, and Augusta County, Virginia

I had the opportunity to help Westminster Presbyterian Church with updating their identity as they welcomed a new pastor. Wanting the buildings and grounds to look their best, the church committee chose to upgrade the signage as part of other buildings and grounds updates.

Here are a few pictures of how I was able to transform the old signs in a cost-effective way into new, higher impact signage…